Motor-vehicle.



1. C. LOBATO.

MOTOR VEHICLE.

APPucATloN HLED Nov.21,19n4.

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2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Patented Apr. 20, 1915.

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Suva/nto@ JOHN C. Lorsfwo JOHN C. LOBATO, OF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

MOTOR-VEHICLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 20, 1915.

Application led November 21, 1914. Serial No. 873,340.

To all whom t may conce Be it known that I, bLHN C. LoBA'ro, a citizenof Portugal, residing at Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMotorf Vehicles, of which the following is a specification, referencebeing had to the accompanying draw-` ings. Y

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in motor vehiclesand more particularly to the construction of a motor vehicle, which isadapted for use upoi battle points of efficiency and durability, isinexpensive to manufacture and, at the same time, is simple inconstruction and opera#v tion.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in thenovel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts aswill be hereinafter referred to and lmore particularly pointed out 'inthe specification and claims.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application, Figure1 is a side elevation of a motor vehicle constructed in accordance withmy invention. Fig. 2 is a similar enlarged view, parts thereof beingbroken away and illustrated in cross section. Fig. 3 isa rear elevation.Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the front portion thereof,illustrating the bracing means; and Fig. 5 is a detail transversesectional View illustrating the connection between the upper and lowersections of the body.

In.the construction of my improved vehicle, it will be understood thatthe chassis may be of any well known make and is to be mounted upon theaxles 1 and 2, said axles having the wheels 3 and 4 mounted upon theends thereof, the wheels 3 being the front or steering `wheels and thewheels 4 the rear or driving wheels. The body of my improved vehicle,which is generally indicated by the numerall 5 is formed of sheet metalsecurely held in position by means of bracing rods 6.

The body 5 is formed of an upper portion 5 and of a lower portion 5b,the lower portion being shallow relative to the upper port1on. The body5 is approximately elliptical 1n plan and the top portion islongitudinally upwardly bowed or curved and is, generally speaking,transversely upwardly bowed orl curved. Thus no portion of the bodypresents a Hat surface. As before stated, the bottom portion 5b istransversely curved and also longitudinally curved and is relativelyshallow.' As illustrated in Fig. 5, the upper portion 5' of the bodyadjacent its margin is reversely curved to the portion above the marginso as to extend'downward and outward and so that the edge a of the mar--gin extends practically in a horizontal plane. The bottom portion bratits margin' is outwardly turned as at b approximately in a horizontalplane, and these two portions are riveted or otherwise connected to eachother. There is thus provided around the entire machine a marginal belt,or band as it may be termed, of metal, which extends horizontally andwhich is of double thickness, this band, therefore, being so constructedlas to offer a maximum of resistance to shock, either the shock causedby the impact of a projectile, or the shock incident to the machinestriking an obstacle. Furthermore, as this protecting band or reinforcedportion is longitudinally curved, the object which is impacted/ againstthe band will tend to glide 0H, or the machine will tend to glanceoffend the blow thus delivered will be a glancing blow.

It is to be noted that if the portion 5a is extended downward to itsmargin in the same curve that the upper part of .the por-l tion 5a has,it would meet the portion 5b at an angle and would form no such shockresistin band as is formed by the construction i lustrated in Fig. 5,and therefore that the armor of the car Would be Weak and offer only aminimum amount of'reslstance at the very place in the armor whlch shouldoffer the maximum resistance. Furthermore, itv will be seen that in thislast ca se i at all portions exc t the sides a pro]ectile striking thecar would tend to glance off because of the factlthat the surfacecontour' of the armor is rounded in every directlon, and therefore theside of the car would be the most vulnerable point, ,With myconstruction, however, that part of the car which-isl most liable to bestruck by projectiles and from which projectiles will ordinarilyhave theleast tendency to glance oli is' so formed by making the reverse curveat the margin of the upper portion of the armor, so that a projectilestriking this part will tend to glance upward or be deflected upwardfrom an approximately horizontal course and thus do no damage. It willfurther be seen that the' thickened portion or belt is not onlystrengthened by the fact that it is formed 'of two thicknesses disposed-`in a nearly horizontal plane, and' that it is further re-` inforced inthat the upper `and lower sections-of the armor arev disposed adjacent'each other at a relatively acute angle." It will be noted that the body5 is formed 4of a plurality ofksheet metal strips, the upper portion ofthe bod.v having the strips extending substantial y spirally and havingtheir ends secured to the ends of the strips which form the bottomportion of the body. The different strips which constitute the bottomchamber and body ofthe vehicle, are securely fastened together byrivets, connecting strips 6 -being arranged upon the;

inner sides of the strips at the inner sections thereof, whereby tosecurely fasten the edges of the strips together.' Extendin downwardlyfrom the lower portion o` the vehicle are the protecting st'rips 8whichfare arranged upon the outer sides of the wheels to formaprotection therefor.

' Connected with the front axle 1is a steer;

ing wheel'9 whichvcan be readily operated from the drivers seat 10 tosteer the vehicle` in various directions.- One side ofthe body i isprovided -with an opening which is normally closed by means of a door1'1 whereby a person may enter the car or the 'occupants thereof mayreadily leave? A' second door 12 is arranged at the rear o'f the vehlcleto provide an entrance for persons desiring to enter the interiorl ofthe bodyr from the rear thereof. This door is' prefy erably provided sothat .should the vehicle be close to the firing line, a person mayenterA the same from the rear, without exposing themselves to the enemysfire. The body 5 1sl provided upon the' sides thereof and at variousintervals with suitable openings 15 which will be known as watchopenings,

ally indicated by the numeral 17, the muzzle of which extends uplthrough an enlarged opening 18 in the top of the body 5.

In the construction of my improved motor vehicle, the engine is locateddirectly beneath the drivers seat. It will be understood that byremoving the guns and other equipment within the device, the same can be4 readily used for transporting the wounded from the battle field to thehospital and can also be used for conveying reporters, and other personsdesiring to obtain a vantage point at the front of the firing line, sothat they will not be exposed to the danger of the enemys lire. Shouldit be desired to use this machine upon a battle field;

where close range firing lis going on, .the vehicle can be used,provided the surface permitsfor charging the enemy, as the forward endof the machine is provided with a penetrating point formed by a heavysteel vram or prow 18 arranged over the outer end of the same andrigidly secured in any desired manner. The capy 18 is preferably formedof heavy steel but it will be understood that the same may be made ofany 'material desired. It will be noted also that fthis ram 18 forms acap covering the fortions of the armor, so that the shock due j to theimpact of the ram against the body will be transmitted principally tothis reinforced or thickened marginal portion. The tires upon myimproved vehicle are preferably solid rubber and, in the accompanyingdrawings, it will be noticed-that they are' formed in segs-:tions togrlpplngv sur ace.

` Arranged between and the lower portion of the sheathing, are

provide for a suitable the bottom of the body; v

a number of brace rods or braces 6.' which support the lower portion ofthe sheathing inl spaced relation with the bottom and it will be notedthat the front part vof the vehicle, as illustrated in Fig. 4, isprovided with numerous integral braces so that should the front end ofthe vehicle strike a stationary or exceptionally heavy object, it willnot crush the end of the body. The-main body of the vehicle upon theinner side Vthereof. is preferablyflined lwith vcork or v other materialof this /eharacter, so that should the. same be driven over 'unusuallyrough surfaces, and the persons .within the same be shaken about, theywill not be injured by striking the inner walls of the body and also forthe purpose of deadening the sound caused by the impact of a projectileupon the armor. V

From the above description, it will be apparent that I have provided asimple and durable vehicle wherein the body is formed of strips of metalarranged spirally to form a deflecting surface for bullets and otherarticles and, at the same time, the device is provided at its forwardend with a penetrating point, the purpose of which has been hereinbeforeset forth. The device in itself is extremely simple in construction,consists of comparatively few parts and can be manufactured and placedupon the market at a-comparatively low cost.

While I have shown and described the preferred form of my invention, itwill be obvious that various changes in the details of construction andin the proportions may be resorted to`for successfully carryin myinvention into practice, without sacri cing any of the novel features,or departing from the scope ofthe invention, as defined by the appendedclaims.

Having thus described this invention, what l claim is:-

l. An armored car including a wheeled truck portion, and a hollow'metallic body in.- closing the, truck and having openings. for theprojection of the wheels, saidbody being elliptical in plan and upwardlybowed or rounded .from end to end and transversely bowed or rounded fromlateral edge to lateral edge..

2. An armored car comprising a wheeled truck, and a'hollow metallic bodyinclosing said truck, -said body having a transverselyand longitudinallydownwardly curved or bowed bottom section having 'openings for theprojection of the wheels of the truck and a transversely andlongitudinally upwardly bowed or curved upper section connected at its'margin to the margin .of the lower section, the body being elliptical inplan..

3. `An armored car including a hollow metallic body'formed of, an uppersection and a lower or bottom section, both of said sections beinglongitudinally bowedin opposite directions and transversely bowed inopposite directions, the lateral margins of the top and bottom sectionsbeing respectively curved downward and upward and th'en graduallyreversely curved outward and connected to each other whereby to providea reinforced belt around the car composed of two thicknesses of materialextending approximately in a horizontal plane.

4.. An armored car including a wheeled truck portion, and a hollowmetallic body formed of an upper sectionand a bottom section', thebottom section being relatively shallow and transversely andlongitudinally bowed or curved and formed with openings for the ,projection of the wheels, the top section being transversely andlongitudinally curved, the margin of the bottom section being joined tothe margin of the top section to provide a relatively stiff and rigidreinforced impact receiving band extending entirely around the body andprojecting beyond any other portion thereof.

5. An armored car including a wheeled truck portion, and a hollowmetallic body inclosing the truck portion, said body being elliptical inplan and having a top'portion upwardly bowed or curved from end to end,and transversely Vbowed or curved, and a longitudinally and transverselycurved bottom portion, said body being formed to' provide an impactreceiving belt or band of rein-v forced material extending entirelyaround the body in -a horizontal plane and projecting beyond any otherportion of the body.

6. An armored car including awheeled truck portion, a hollow lmetallicbod inclosing the truck portion, said body eing elliptical in plan andhaving a top portion upwardly bowed or curved from end to end, andtransversely bowed' or curved, and a longitudinally and transverselycurved bottom portion formed to rovide an imp'act receivin belt or bando reinforced material exten ing entirely around the` body in ahorizontal plane and projecting beyond any other portion of the body,and a pointed ram disposed at the forward end of the body and on a linewith said reinforced belt or band, whereby-shocks communicated to theram will be distributed along said reinforced portion.

ln testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature Vin the presence oftwo witnesses.

JOHN C; LOBATO. Witnesses;

r JOHN OLIVER SMALL, FRANCIS J. MURPHY.

